Hoshin Kanri

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe a method called "Hoshin Kanri" (or Policy Deployment) developed by Dr. Yoji Akao in 1991. Hoshin Kanri is defined as a "form of corporate-wide management that combines strategic management and operational management by linking the achievement of top management goals with daily management at an operation level" [1]. This method is an essential element of TQM and is based on the PDCA cycle. Hence, at the strategic level this method can be applied by scanning the context of the company in order understand how to positionate it in the market. To do that, the external and the internal environments need to be studied using the Poter's 5 forces analysis and the Poter's generic strategies (for the external environment) ; instead, for the internal environment, which is about to understand the available resources of the company in order to develop a competitive strategy, it can be carried out by the Business Model Canvans, SWOT analysis and Balanced Scorecard. Then, during the planning step, the long and mid-short term goals are set and via the X-Matrix, which is the way implementation of the Hoshin Kanri, the operational and organizational goals are alligned. After the implementation, the progress has to be continuously monitored, keeping track of all the activities and improve them. Further, through the article, attention will be given to the Catchball process, which is the necessary communication process to obtain a successful implementation of the Hoshin Kanri among all the company levels.

Table of contents

1)What is Hoshin Kanri?
1.1)Strategy Deployment
1.2)History of Hoshin Kanri - Origin of the word
1.3)7 steps of Hoshin Strategy

2) The PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, act) 
2.1)The X-Matrix 

3)The Catchball process

4)Why Use Hoshin?
5)What can go wrong?

Reference

[1] HOSHIN KANRI: POLICY MANAGEMENT IN JAPANESE-OWNED UK SUBSIDIARIES, Barry J. Witcher and Rosemary Butterworth, Journal of Management Studies 38:5 July 2001, University of East Anglia